Glass-melting furnace



' Och 13, 1925 T. c. MOORSHEAD amass MELTING gunmen W git; M

mm: on. 1 19 24 Patented Oct. 13, 1925.

I 1,551,078] UNITED? STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS fiOURTNEY MOORSHEAD, OF STRAND, LONDON, ENGLAND, A SSIGNOR OF ONE- EAIJ' TO Tan UNITED GLASS BOTTLE MANUFACTURERS UNITED, OF STRAND, LONDON, ENGLAND, A BRITISH COMPANY.

GLA8S-MELTING FURNACE.

Application filetl October 15, 1824'. Serial No. 743,684.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Tnomns COURTNEY Moonsnnnn, a citizen of the United States of ericu, residingat 4.0/43 Norfolk Street, Strand, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and Gluss-Meltmg Furnaces, lowing is a. specification. This invention relates to glass melting furnaces, continuous tank furnaces.

Continuous tank furnaces as at constructed are usually constitute-r rectungulorcom artment I sections by a hri ge wall, the sections belugtermed the-melting or reducing comporb ment and the working compartment, respectively. The bridge Wallis usuallv pro vided with an opening or doghole leadin to the working com ertment, thedoghole being locatedbelowthe level of the top surface of the molten glass as to allow only the. melted portion thereof to move forward into the working compartment.

Although tank furnaces, are of slmple COIlStIlltlOl'l and. melt the 7 glass eeonomically, the metal produced is .'not of such good quality as potmetel. This is attributable. in large measure, to the fact that in the melting. com artment, the glass, as soon as it islmelte ,does not flow freely into the working or refining chamber, but owing to the unscientific construction oi. the melting. compartment, dormant glass collects in masses, principally in the corners thereof and especially when the fun nace is not working utfull cnpacity and this dormant glass stays in themeltlng conipartmcnt for o more or less prolonged riod of time so that it is overheated.

'hen, therefore, such dormant masses of glassnre finally carried over into the workmg compurtmcntxthey vitiate the character and reduce the quality of the rest of the glass which has. been heated and fined .for the proper periodof time, and the chief object of the, present invention is toimprove the construction of the "furnace in such manner that finer and clearer glass is produced which is of more. uniform than heretofore.

-Accorcling, to one feature invention the sides of useful Improvements in or Relating to of which the f0lresent by cllvideol into two of the present the bridge wall which in the working and more; particularly to s0-calle(l quality "separate the working from the melting compartments are inclined or curved relatively to both the melting and working compartments, so as to avoid right angled corners and melting compartments 111 which dormant glass can collect. The

other boundary wells of the working and melting compartments, oreither of these compartrnents,1nny also he so shaped usto form in conjunction'with the inclinedor curved sides of the bridge wall a compartments of oval, ovoid, elongated, or substantially hexagonal, octagonal, diamond or like configuration. The most satisfactory configuration for the walls of the melting compartment is substantially torpedo shaped, as this configuration, in conjunction with the inclined or curved. sides of the bridge well not only avoids angledocorners in which dormantglassoan collect but also presents a. streamline outline to the molten glass, which does not im edeits freepassagz from the melting to tie working chem however, by adopting any of the other shapes "indicated, in which rightangl'ed corners are alsoavoided, improved results over the ordinary tank furnace. are obtained. In certain cases, and instead of also providing the working compartn iout with lnclincd or curved wells, only the end of the furnace through which the batch compartment or mixture is filled, neecl'be curved or formed with inclined. sides, jogether also with the corners at the junction between the bridge wall and the sides of the melting comportment.

Accorrling to another feature of the pres ent invention. and instead of using a brid well which extends entirely across the furonce and which is formed with a dog hole below the level of the molten glass, the bridge wall may be formecl in two parts or sections, inclined relatively to the melting and/or working compartments, said wall sections projecting laterally from opposite sides of the furnace, so asio leave a gap-of suitable width at ornbout the centre of the tank. This gap is closed at its upper part by nlion! ing cylinder 0: ring which is partially submerged so that the upper end thereof Projects above the level of the glass and crops back all unmolten metal, while the molten portion,- free from bubbles and row nmtcrial, can pass through the space which is lett between the base of the and the bottom of the tank. 4

The floating ring may be formed from pot clay, and when, after continued use, it is so far melted away asto impair its efliciency it can readily be removed and a new ring floated into place.

In the'preferred construction, each half floating ring of the bridge is hollow and is formed by two inclined or V-shaped walls which, if

, desired, may be roofed over. Owin to this arrangement an ample space is left etween the double sides of each half of the bridge v holes.

wvall thus allowing effective air, water or other cooling to be resorted to. The inclined bridge walls also eliminate right-angled corners at the rear end of the working compa-rtment, but, if desired, additional blocks 0 with inclined sides can be inserted at the two front corners of the working compartment adjacent to the discharge or gathering The tank may be crowned or arched over inthe usual manner, but in order to elimi-' nate-the usual charging opening. at the front end of the furnace the refractory material around which, as aforesaid, is liable to be melted ,away' owing to the action of the alkalies in the freshly admitted batch, the inclined or curved end of the improved melting compartment may project beyond the front arch so as to expose a narrow section at the rear end of. the melting compartment into which the scrap glass or batch mixture can be fed.

The tank'is provided with port holes and may be heated in any usual manner, e. g., oil or gas orany other suitable inch The port holes at the front and rear end of the melting compartment may if desired be provided with inclined sides or otherwise formed so as to direct the products of combustion towards the centre of the melting.

tank, thus adapting them to the new shape or configuration thereof.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows by way of example a. glass melting tank furnace constructed according to one form of the present invention and in which Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of the tank furnace, the section being taken on the line l--l of Figure 4.

Figure 2 is a lon itudinal section taken on the line 2--2 of igure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are transverse sections taken on the line and 4=4 of Figure 1, respectively.

isthe melting compartment which in the a simple shown is of substantially octagonai coniiguratimi, and B istho refining or working compartment. C, C are the two sections of the hollow bridge wall, the double walls of each section bein inclined relatively to the melting and wor ing compartments and being roofed over at C, C as shown. D is the ccntral'opening between the two parts 0, Cof the bridge wall, and E is the float ring located ,at the entrance to "said opening D the upper end of said ring of the brick work to'be resorted to. I), b are additional blocks with inclined sides inserted.

at the two front corners of the working o0mpartment-B, and 21 b are the discharge spouts or gathering holes of the said compertinent. F is the crown or arch of-the furnace and G, G are the portholes by means of which the furnace is heated. The melting compartment A projects beyond the front wallF of the furnaceso as to leave a charging opening; I into which glass or batch mixture is fed.

In the example shown the furnace is the scrap adapted for oil' heating, regenerabors H, H

being provided on each sideof the furnace. In the type of furnace shown, the refining or working compartment B is more articularly adapted for automatic mac ine working, the glass bein fed to the machine, or to the auxiliary gatiering tanks, as the case may be, through the spouts b, b, but any type of working compartment may be .used, such for example as those" havin rounded ends and provided with aseries 0 gathering holes for hand gathering. In

other words the working end of the furnace may be designed for any or all purposes,-

The new shape or configuration of the tank results in-a considerable savin of refractory blocks, while, at the same time the formation of dormant glass in the corners of the tank is eliminated and a; more uniform and improved qua-lit of metal is produced. The V-sha edbri gewall also pro vides large and we Lopen spacesso that the blocks comprising it are ex sed and e'fi'ective cooling permitted, whilethe shape of the furnace itself does not result in any sacrifice inthe effective melting area of the tank.

What I claim and desire to secure by ters Patent of the United States is 1. A glass melting tank furnace comprising a melting compartment, a working compartment, a bridge wall separating said melting compartment from said working compartment, the sides of said bridge well being so disposed relatively to both the working and melting compartments as to walls of said corners.

.2. A glass melting compartment bein also so formed as to es avoid right angl melting tank furnace comprising-a melting compartment, a working cornpartment, a bridge wall working from, said melting compartment, the sides of said bridge or curved relatively to separating said wall being inclined both the working and meltin compartments, and the other boundary we is of the working partments being :60

curved sides for the glass meltin ing a melting compa partment, a hri I working from sai and melting comwith inclined or purpose specified.

tank furnace comprisrtment, a working comwall separating said melting compartment,

' ing a melting compartment, a wor the sides of said bridge wall being inclined or curved relatively to both the melting com artments, the 0th walls of sai meltin fgrmed with incliinde t e ur se 5' ci e er boundary compartments being g partment, a bridge wall separating said working from said meltin compartment, the sides of said bridge wal being inclined or curved relatively to both the working and melting compartments, the other boundary walls of the melting compartments bein formed with inclined or curved sides and having an end wall which projects beyond the arch of the furnace so section into which the batch mixture can char ed. THOllfAS COURTNEY MOORSHEAD;

or curved sides for Working and use melting tank fnrnaceincomprisas to expose a 

